I have recently spent a lot of June and July in the center of London, in my 17 years on this planet, I am ashamed to say these two months have been the first real time that I have gotten to explore and see this famous city for what it is. Whilst I have been doing what I should have a few years ago, I have come across all types of people from different walks of life and found that having a quirky and different personal style is not that rare anymore, and wondered why many people’s attempts to be an individual and push boundaries in regards to the way they dress have now become so generic with little shock value.
I began to brainstorm possible reasons why and came up with a with a few:
-Throughout the years people in society have become more comfortable in expressing themselves and this can be shown through the way an individual may dress.
-The media’s influence, e.g., fashion blogs, the TV, retail stores etc.
-Admiring another person’s sense of style a little too much, which may turn into a chain of imitation.
-Following popular trends which pressure others to follow them too.
-Dressing unique may just be too expensive for many people.
-So many try so hard to look different that in the end, we no longer stand out from each other.
A teacher of mine told our class a story, about a couple of pupils from her previous school who believed that they were different from everyone else and were determined for this to be known. One day they all came into school with a t-shirt saying, ‘I AM AN INDIVIDUAL’ – I assure you this was not planned!
This story made me think of how young people especially are desperate to not conform and want to be unique. Although this is great, it seems that many of us have the same goal and this anecdote is a fitting example of how having the same goal, can lead to a very speedy decline in the amount of originality out there.
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